Garment drier



Feb. 24, 1953 A. o. LovELAcE GARMENT DRIER Filed. March 6, 1950 E C A LE V O l. O A

INVESTOR Patented Feb. 24,` 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENTDRIER Arron 0. Lovelace, Fort Worth, Tex.

Application March 6, 1950, Serial No. 147,987

2 Claims.

This invention relates to dry cleaning equipment and has reference toimprovements in garment driers.

An object of the invention is to provide a garment drier construction inwhich the wet or damp garments may be quickly positioned for drying, andquickly removed therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment drier which willdry more garments as compared with conventional driers of the same size.

l Another object of the invention is to provide a drying arrangement ina blower type garment drier whereby excess air by-passes the garmentwhen only one garment is being dried, and thereby preventing the garmentfrom being blown out of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment drier whichdoes not require the use of clamps on the garments being dried forholding the same in drying position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a drier of thedescribed class which will not stretch the garments, but will operatewithout Igetting the garments out of shape.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings and the following description.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment drier embodying the featuresof the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the new drier and showingthe position of garments during the drying operation.

Figure 3 is a broken perspective view of the garment guides and thelsteam ring.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the drier stack and showing twopairs of trousers being dried therein.

In Figure 1 the numeral 5 designates a housing having four sides 6, anupper surface 'I and a. bottom 8. There is an annular opening 9 in thecenter of the upper housing surface 'I which is enclosed by an upwardlydirected cylindrical stack I 0. The opening 9 is in the form of anupwardly directed flange which slidably receives the lower end of thestack IU, and whereby the latter may be located relative to said openingand at the same time be easily removed when desired. Within the upperend of the housing 5 and secured to the walls 6 there is a cross brace II having T fittings relatively near its center for securing a pair ofupwardly directed substantially parallel looped guides I3, as shown indetail in Figure 3. In assembly, it will be noted that the guides I3 arespaced from the inner wall of the cylindrical stack IIJ. There is asteam ring I4 supported on the cross brace Il and around the upwardlyprojecting guides I3. The upper surface of the ring I 4 is provided withorifices I5 and the entire ring is covered with fabric IB, such astoweling. A supply pipe I1 including a manually operated valve I8 isconnected with the steam ring I4. As will become apparent in thedescription of the operation, the steam ring I4 is employed only when itis desired to raise the'nap or soften wrinkles on the garments beingdried.

Within the bottom portion of the housing 5 there is a motor I9 mountedon a bracket 20 and having an upwardly directed fan 2I connected withsaid motor for moving air upwardly through a, heat exchanger 22positioned thereabove, and upwardly and outwardly through the stack li).As shown in Figure 2, the heat exchanger 22 is secured to the walls 6 bymeans of brackets 23. The heat exchanger 22 is connected with a steamsupply pipe 24 and a return pipe 25 which pass through the wall of thehousing 5. An air inlet in the form of a screen grill 26 is provided inone of the walls 6.

There is a vertically directed tubular standard 21 secured to one of thesides of the housing 5 and receives an angular rod bracket 28 in itsupper end. A set screw 29 provides vertica1 adjustment of the bracket28, the upper horizontal end of which is arranged to be positioned overthe upper end of the drying stack I0. The horizontal portion of thebracket 28 is provided with a multiple of downwardly directed bends 30for holding and locating garment hangers 3| upon which the garments 32to be dried are suspended.

The operation of the drier is best illustrated in Figure 2. The heatexchanger 22 is heated by circulating steam through the steam supplypipe 24 and return pipe 25. The garments 32 suspended on the garmenthangers BI are individually positioned over the guides I3, and the airfrom the fan 2i inflates and blows the garments against the inner wallof the drier stack I0. The air, which passes through the heat exchanger22, eiectively dries the garments 32. It will be noted that the garments32 may be quickly positioned in place, and that there are no clips orother weights to cause the garments to sag or stretch. When dry, thegarments may be quickly removed by merely lifting the garment hangers3l. If only one garment is being dried, the same is positioned over oneguide I3 and the side of the garment opposite said guide is blownagainst the opposing wall of the drier stack I0, and the excess airpasses therearound without blowing the garments out of the top of thestack.

As shown in Figure 4, trousers 33 are suspended by their cuis by meansof trouser hangers 34. Each pair of trousers is positioned over one ofthe guides I3, and the side of the garment opposite the guide is blownagainst the inner wall of the stack l0, with the same effect asdescribed in the foregoing.

The described form ofthe invention is not restrictive, but may be madein many ways Within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a garment drier, a drying stack having a relatively large openingin the upper end thereof and adapted to receive the garments to be driedtherethrough, at least one vertically projecting garment guidepositioned within said stack, means blowingY hot air upwardly throughsaid stack, said guide being spaced relative to the inner wall ofsaid-stack at a distance whereby a garment placed over said guide willcontact the latter and said inner wall when said garment is Y inflatedby said blowing means, a garment supporting bracket positioned abovesaid guide and adapted to removably suspend the garments to be driedwithin said stack,

2. In a garment drier as deiined in claim l, the construction whereinsaid guide is comprised of substantially parallel elongated membersarouately joined at their upper ends. Y

ARRGN O. LOVELACE.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the le of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,027,894 Alcorn et al Jan. 14,1936 2,443,069 Gayring June 8, 1948 20 2,487,045 Durf et a1, Nov. s,1949 Petre -g Nov. 19419

